Towards the quasi-localization of canonical GR

Abstract

A general framework for a systematic quasi-localization of canonical general relativity and a new ingredient, the requirement of the gauge invariance of the boundary terms appearing in the calculation of Poisson brackets, are given. As a consequence of this it is shown, in particular, that the generator vector fields (built from the lapse and shift) of the quasi-local quantities must be divergence free with respect to a Sen-type connection; and the volume form induced from the spatial metric on the boundary surface must be fixed.